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LIBRARY

AI Index: ASA 21/008/2007

3 August 2007

URGENT ACTION

Indonesia: Fear for safety: Albert Rumbekwan (m)

PUBLIC AI Index: ASA 21/008/2007
3 August 2007

UA 197/07 Fear for safety

INDONESIA Albert Rumbekwan (m), human rights activist

Prominent human rights defender Albert Rumbekwan has received death threats,
and has been followed and kept under surveillance. Amnesty International
believes his life could be in danger.

He is the director of the National Human Rights Commission (Komisi Nasional Hak
Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM) section in Papua province. Since early June, when he
met with the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani,
he has been receiving mobile phone text messages containing death threats aimed
at him and his family. One of these said: "You who already report on the Papuan
nation with human rights to destroy the people, you want a proof of the
bitterness of the people. The troops will instantly make your ancestors and
your children become skin and bones in the Papuan zone of peace."

On 14 June, unknown men kept watch on his office from 8am until 4pm. The men
went in and asked staff where he was, but he was out, so they waited in their
cars. One of the cars was a black Avanza Kijang LX, and another was a white
Kijang Kapsul. They spent all day parked 20m from the office, which intimidated
the Komnas HAM staff. A similar car had reportedly been seen earlier that month
following Hina Jilani during her visit to Jayapura, Papua province.

According to a local source, on the evening of 24 July "unidentified persons"
went to Albert Rumbekwan's house and tried to see inside holding electronic
equipment up to a window. Police officers were in the house with him at the
time. The police apparently felt "afraid" and told Albert Rumbekwan to prepare
himself with "traditional weapons" like a stone or a knife. Police have been
monitoring his situation closely since he started to receive death threats
however the threats towards Albert have not diminished.

Albert Rumbekwan says he has been followed when travelling by car, and that
members of his family have been followed and have been asked where he is. Text
messages have been sent, claiming to come from him, to people in Papua telling
them to attack police and military offices in the province, so as to achieve a
free Papua. Albert denies sending these messages. These messages could put him
at risk of violent retribution from the security forces.

The harassment and intimidation of Albert Rumbekwan is typical of the treatment
of human rights defenders in Papua since Hina Jilani's visit, and since Colonel
Burhanuddin was nominated as military commander in the city of Jayapura (see UA
199/07, ASA 21/009, 3 August 2007).

Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian reportedly said on 12 May: "If I meet anyone who
has enjoyed the facilities that belong to the state, but who still betrays the
nation, I honestly will destroy him." On 7 July, he reportedly said in the same
newspaper, "For the sake of the NKRI [The Unitary Republic of Indonesia] we are
not afraid of human rights. It is the TNI’s [army] duty to destroy any group
wanting to separate from Indonesia, irrespective of what methods they are using
to struggle."

He made similar threats towards the Timorese community in 1999, which appear to
have led directly to the killing of a number of Timorese civilians. According
to the indictments issued by the Special Panel for Serious Crimes of Dili
District Court in 2003, Colonel Siagian made public speeches threatening to
kill supporters of Timor-Leste’s independence, and ordered the killing of seven
men in April 1999. Although Colonel Siagian has been indicted twice for crimes
against humanity in Timor-Leste, and was named as a suspect in Indonesia’s own
commission of investigation into the human rights violations which occurred in
Timor at the time, he has never faced trial.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
There is an active independence movement in Papua province and the Indonesian
security forces have responded at times with excessive use of force including
extrajudicial executions, torture and arbitrary detentions. Human rights
organisations are among those publicly accused of being linked to the
independence movement. Members of local human rights organisations have been
harassed and intimidated because of their work, and some have been forced to
leave the province. Following her visit to Indonesia in June, Hina Jilani
stated that human rights defenders working in Papua province "continue to face
torture, arbitrary detention and harassment from the country’s police, military
and security forces."

While Amnesty International takes no position on the political status of any
province of Indonesia, Amnesty International believes that the right to freedom
of expression includes the right to express political views and that this right
must be upheld.

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